07/18/2017 DAB Transcript

Today is the 18th of July. Welcome
to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is good to be here with you - really good to be here with you today - as we
take the next step forward in this journey that we are on together through the
Bible and we’re working our way through the books of Chronicles in the Old
Testament and Paul’s crowning jewel, the book of Romans, in the New Testament.
We are reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible this week. First
Chronicles chapter 26 verse 12 through 27 verse 34 today.

Commentary:

Okay, so you see what Paul is
doing here, right? I mean, we were talking about this yesterday with
circumcision as Paul is deconstructing an understanding that everyone thinks is
complete but, then as now, they don’t know all they think they know, just like
we don’t know all we think we know. And
since Paul was a Pharisee right? So, like a devout, respected Pharisee. Since
he met Jesus on the road to Damascus he has had to go into a season of complete
deconstruction of what he thinks he knows and it’s being put back together,
molded into the same faith but with an understanding of who Jesus is and what
he did. So, it’s forcing Paul to go all the way back to the beginning, all the
way back to Abraham, and kind of start there, which you can just…I mean…I
imagine Paul. I cannot wait to shake that guy’s hand and, I don’t know, have some
coffee or something at some point, just to go like, okay, so, you’re killing
the believers, like you’re persecuting the believers and then you meet Jesus
but you’re also an educated Pharisee. You’re studying this all the time,
constantly, this is sort of your vocation. And so, once you meet Jesus all of the
sudden everything you thought you knew starts to come apart like old wallpaper
peeling off a wall. And so, where do you go? How did you do this? But we can
see from his writings, he had to go back to the beginning of his faith, which
originated in this person, Abraham, to whom the promise of this nation and this
people was given. So, that’s what Paul is doing here in Romans, going back to
the beginning and saying, look, we have done everything we can to perfect ourselves
through the law but, would it be heresy, might we consider just a simple truth?
Abraham, our father, the originator, the one who entered into covenant with God
in the first place, that has brought us to this place, might we consider the
fact that he didn’t have a law to obey? Might we understand that it didn’t exist
yet and still God was in covenant with him? Still, God was with him, promising
everything that would come next. And
there’s even controversy within this because, in some ways, this is diminishing
Moses and his activities that brought the law to be because he came way after
Abraham and they all have to have a continuity. And so, they are saying, if you
are saying this kind of stuff then what about Moses? And Paul’s just like,
let’s just go back to the beginning and work our way forward again with, maybe,
some new eyes here. The promise to Abraham and his descendants that he would
inherit the world didn’t come through the law. It came through righteousness
that came through faith. And so, if those who are trying to follow the recipe
of the law are heirs, then faith is empty and the promise is cancelled because
Abraham didn’t have any of those things to put his faith and trust in. So, Paul
is saying, Abraham didn’t have any of this. He simply had one thing - he
believed - hoping against hope in the impossible in that what God was telling
him, that he would become the father of many nations, even though he was a
hundred years old and his wife was not far behind, that against all odds, he
was going to become the father of many nations. And he did not waver in that
belief. He did not waver in that faith. He looked at the realities. He looked
at the circumstances. But he did not waver or, to quote the bible, he did not
waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave
glory to God because he was totally convinced that what had been promised, God
was also able to perform. If God promised something, he believed he could do it.

Now, do you believe that? Do I?
Do I believe what God promises he can do? I think we would all say yes,. I do
believe he can do. I’m just not so sure he will. And there is the rub. There is
the disconnect. Because within that is doubt, not faith. He could but I don’t
know that he will. He said it but I’m not so sure he’s going to come through.

And yet this story, I mean the
human story, would be radically different if Abraham did not believe in the
impossible. Not because he’s simply believed in the impossible but that he
believed in God’s declaration, that what Abraham saw as impossible was in fact
possible. So Paul is effectively saying, God can speak a promise and we
collaborate by simply believing in an unwavering way, not denying the realities
around us, totally understanding that what’s being said is impossible, and
hoping beyond hope, against all hope, and moving forward as if it’s going to
happen. And in all of that we rejoice in our afflictions, in are realities,
because we know that all of it has purpose.
Affliction produces endurance, endurance produces character, character
produces hope, and we need this hope. This is rocket fuel and it will not
disappoint us because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the
Holy Spirit, who is given to us.

Now, I don’t want to pull this
out of context, because the context that Paul’s talking about is why we can
have faith in Jesus, what this actually means - that Abraham had to have faith
and that was what justified him before the Lord and he took God’s promise and
he believed against all circumstances that it would be true. That he, I mean,
we don’t know many 100-year-old fathers that are, like, having a brand new
newborn baby, that that would actually happen and that because that happened
nations would be born. But for us there’s all kinds of things that we have hope
for and in that God has spoken to us and they will not happen if we decide they
will not happen. If we decide we are not going to collaborate through faith and
hope in an enduring way then they’re not, then they won’t. Many of us have had
dreams that we’ve basically abandoned because we feel like it’s too late for us
now. But then we have to look at Abraham
because it was most certainly too late for him. And none of this would be here
if he had thought it’s too late, this is bogus, I don’t know what I’m hearing
but it’s not the Almighty. Nope, he would have died and disappeared from
history. We would have never known his name. Paul is saying it’s faith guys. It’s
hope that we need. It’s not recipes or traditions
or rituals or laws. It’s faith and hope that we need. And in Paul’s context, he’s
inviting hope and faith in Jesus and it’s no different for us.

Prayer:

So, Jesus, we put our faith
and hope in you and you alone. And the thing is, we say those words but we’re
going to have to do that in 5 minutes. And we’re going to have to do it again
in another five minutes or we’re going to have to do it every minute, as long
as it takes, until hope arises. And, so, we invite your Holy Spirit. Our hope
is in you, in the face of the impossible. Our hope is in you. And we ask your
Holy Spirit to give us eyes to see and ears to hear and that we are pulled away
from the thing we are obsessing about even if it’s your promise, trying to
figure out how it’s going to work and back away. I don’t know how it’s going to
work. We don’t know how it’s going to work but our hope is in you and you alone.
Our faith and trust is in you and you alone. It doesn’t matter how it’s going
to work. Our hope is in you and we see how we’ve obsessed and how we’ve tried
to make things happen only to be frustrated, which is simply an indicator that
we lost hope. So, come Holy Spirit, fill
us with hope today we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base. It’s
the website. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure
to check in and check it out. There’s a
couple of other things going on around here.

The Sneezing Jesus Discussion
Group, which is just…some of the things you guys are saying and doing are just
incredible and there’s really good discussion happening there. So, if you
haven’t had a chance to get into the group it’s at facebook.com/groups/sneezingjesus. And you’ll want to jump in. We’ll
be doing a Facebook Live inside that group about Sneezing Jesus just a couple
of days from now, on the 20th, which is Thursday at 7 p.m. Central
Time. So, just maybe Google the difference between central standard time and
wherever you are, so, that you have the right time. And I’ll be sharing some thoughts and maybe
taking some questions. So, I will look forward to seeing you there.

I mentioned yesterday the Sneezing
Jesus tour. And so, we will be out on the road this fall into the winter and
spring and if you would like to see that come to your area, go to sneezingjesus.com,
scroll down to the bottom, and you see the just a little form there. And we’ll
see if that can happen.

The other thing around Sneezing
Jesus is that the audio edition of Sneezing Jesus is available. I read that. So,
it’s my words in my own voice. And that is available, as I understand it,
pretty much everywhere that you can get audio books in the downloadable formats.
So, you may want to check that out. It’s on Audible. It’s on iTunes and a lot of
other places around the world. So, check
that out.

If you want to partner with
the Daily Audio Bible, If what we are doing here, together, as a community around
this global campfire, brings warmth and light and life and good news into your
life, then thank you for your partnership, that it might continue to burn into
the future. There’s a link on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. If you using the
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And as always if you have a
prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today. I’m
Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayers and Praise Reports:

Hi this is CenCal, as in
central CA. First time caller long time listener since ‘08. Responding to Grady
from PA. This is July 14th podcast.
The college student that’s worried about his friends. Man Grady, you can tell by just how emotional
you’ve gotten talking about them, your heart’s for God, man. That’s awesome. Make sure that your friends don’t change you
or influence you but rather change and influence them. Be the light in their lives. Let your light shine the way and I truly
believe that you are there for a reason man.
You are there to show them the way.
God did put you there and put those people around you. So, make sure you
are that positive influence in their life that they need. Ya know, we need more people like, you know,
like you, that have a heart for people. And you were bold enough to make that
phone call today. That’s awesome
man. Just keep on doing what you are
doing. Keep your friends in constant prayer, that God protects them, that he
guides them, as well as yourself.
Basically, just keep doing what you’re doing and let God handle the rest
man. We’re praying for you. We love you
man. Ya know, just keep on calling back whenever you feel God tugging on your
heart that you need to reach out. I just
want to thank Brian, Jill, and the staff for doing what you do and have a
blessed day DAB family.

Hello my DAB family this is
Max _____ from Sydney AU. Today is the 15th of July and I am ringing
for massive praise report. I came back on
Thursday last week from youth camp and the youth camp was amazing. It was really
was. There was so much of Jesus’ love shared around to everybody and all the
kids that I was looking after were absolutely a joy to have and be able to
impart Jesus with them and spend some wonderful time together. So, the whole camp was a success. It was about 90 children and I think everyone
experienced God’s love. And so, I do want to ring and say thank you. Thank you
for all those who prayed for this camp, especially Candice who I heard call in
but I know there was others as well, so, I thank you for everyone that called
in. So, just looking forward to Sneezing Jesus. I’ve got my copy. I’ve got my download copy for my iPad. But
I’ve got 10 books coming. But
unfortunately, in Australia it will take until about the end of August for me to
get the books but I am planning, nervously.
I must say I am nervous about spreading the word but I know how that’s
____ coming against us too, so. And thank you Sarah from Nebraska for reaching
out and praying for us too about sneezing.
And I’m praying for everybody too, that we will have that courage,
because I know that courage in me is feeling a bit weak at the moment. The
Spirit is willing and I’m certainly going to get out there and start spreading
the word. So, I am praying for myself
as well, that courage myself, that I will have the courage to spread the word.
And I’m praying for everybody out there as well that we’ll all have the courage
to spread the word of God. Thank you my DAB family and I am praying for all of
you. Bye.

Morning on Daily Audio Bible. This is a message for Hope. I call her Hope
but you called yourself Hopeless. Anyway, you are dealing with depression and
want to be freed in your mind and I’m sure many of us can agree we face this.
So, I just want to help try to bring you out of it, not by my strength but by
God’s. You say you have generational
family patterns. I pray and hope you’ll be the one that breaks the patterns
with trust, faith, and with God to bless the rest, that He’s given us what we
need. Through the word we find the scripture. I’ve found one for you. It says, brothers and sisters, whatever is
true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is
glistening, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy
take that with you. That’s Philippians
4:8. So, hold onto that. I needed it. And I pray and hope your day is blessed
and empowered.

Hi this is Tony N. I’m calling
from Germany. I want to start off by saying hello to Brian, to Jill, to your
children, and I would like to ask our community to please pray for this family
as a unit when they are so out there on behalf of the Lord. They are under
attack, so, please pray the Lord, protect this unit. If you were to give me a
name or, if the Lord would, it may be facilitator of healing, mind, body, and
soul and you’ll see me post on DAB sometimes, DAB Friends, sometimes private
messages just sharing what the Lord has blessed me with right where knowledge
is concerned on health and healing. I want to especially call out Elaine from
Victoria. I heard your cries, your ruinedness, your pain when you called and,
it was very special. To hear that the Lord had reached out to you, specifically,
and in a miracle, let you know you are His, yes, we are His. Most importantly
He wanted you to know you are His and I’m very grateful for that blessing. Very
happy to be connected with my DAB family. Bye-bye.

Hi family this is _____ from
FL. I haven’t called in a while and a
lot has been going on but I can’t really say in 2 minutes but I just wanted to
call and thank you and thank God for intertwining me with such a beautiful
community. The forgiveness that you all show, devotion that you all have. The
love that is so clear is something that I know touches God’s heart. So, I just
wanted to express my gratitude to you and my praise to God, who is the source
of all love. And, so, anytime you guys show your love, what you’re showing, and
what you’re teaching is an aspect of God’s character. So, I just, I thank you
all for being such beautiful ministers and I’m just grateful and I just love
all of you guys. God bless.